BREAKING: Portarlington man helps break Irish swimming record in Budapest

Irish American swimmer Shane Ryan was part of the Irish 4x100m mixed relay team that broke the Irish record in Budapest earlier this morning.

Ryan, who has Portarlington roots, was part of the Irish team that swam 3:49.08 to claim fifth spot in their heat and in the process, break the National record by three seconds.

The swimmer, whose dad Tom hails from Portarlington, decided to move back to Ireland to help put the country on the medal podium in Japan in 2020. The games were subsequently postponed this summer.

An Irish American, Shane declared for Ireland in 2015 before Rio. He returned to the Laois Offaly border town where he lived for some months before Rio, to celebrate with family.

He has since medaled for Ireland at World level.

Despite the impressive performance, it remains to be seen if they will make the final later tonight as the Irish team still only lie in eight place overall after the two heats that have been completed.

Darragh Greene, Ellen Walshe and Danielle Hill were the other members of the team.